Not an expert but here are my recommendations:
Don't get advice from HD or Lowes.
Don't treat sod that new with weed chemicals, this time of year it's too hot to treat new or old sod with chemicals.

Having said that the sedge will grow taller than the sod and be easy to spot. I'd put on a rubber glove, a cotten glove over that, dip the cotton in a Roundup solution and give the sedge the handshake of death. Repeat monthly throughout the summer. When the weather cools you can treat the sedge with "Sedgehammer" and spray the augustine with 2-4-D.

I know this is labor intensive but you're comming from behind by not killing all this stuff compleatly before new sod went down.

I would not spread any herbicides on your sod till its fully rooted in, ya might damage it if not.
St Aug can be killed with 2,4-d or any herbicide that states "do not use on st aug" cause it will have 2,4-d in it. As for the sedge, wait till later, get your grass rooted in before you control it. I put my Empire down in the spring. I have mowed it many times and its fully rooted. in. I notice Ican control the sedge by hand pulling for now. Next year Im going to hit it with sedgehammer.
I guess I repeated weed cutters herbicide control.
Good luck.

I also had Empire Zoysia put in my front yard about three weeks ago. I was told by the installer to water my lawn one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening for 30 days or ..until the grass took root. He said that Zoysia can die over night if not properly watered right after installation. So be careful. When the Zoysia turns brown before it can get rooted in...you may not be able to bring it back. The installer came by yesterday to put in a advertising sign which I had granted. He looked at the grass and said I can cut back on watering now..maybe twice a week..but I need to watch for "browning". I was given instructions to NOT apply fertilizer or weed control for 45 days or until I mowed two or three times. Fungicide or insecticide may be applied anytime if necessary. He saw that some "sedge grass" was coming through. Part of their installation process was to put down grass kill...but I had already done that two weeks before they arrived. The lawn looked "dead" and smelled like a cow barn. I don't think extra poison would have taken out all the sedge...I had also put in a new garden..ripping out all the "fabric weed guard"...and raking over and over..but sedge has shown up there too. The installer said that significant watering can bring sedge grass. it may also travel by spores..I'll have to check. I have two more weeks before the Zoysia is long enough to mow. If I have to "squirt" a herbicide on any sedge individually, I will...I am SO glad to be done with St. Augustine. The last couple of years..fungus has attacked many lawns in my neighborhood...and poison for cinch bugs doesn't seem to work anymore...this was also noted in the local newspaper..it seems cinch bugs have become immune to what I can get at Home Depot etc...all through the neighborhood...where once was beautiful St. Augustine lawns..
I see dead areas...or neighbors replacing sections...the new "two waterings a week" rule didn't help..along with a longer dry season. Good luck...I can't wait to see my lawn after the first mowing....I'm the first one to put Zoysia in...but I know many will follow.

Hello

I just installed one pallet of Empire Zoysia today. It covered a huge brown out in my lovely St. Aug. So now half of my front yard is St. Aug and the other Empire Zoy. Im happy to watch to see who takes over. n the meantime Im happy to end my love-affair with the high maintenece St. Auggie ! In the back yard and side; I also planted some on the shady side of my home and i laid them separated by the width of a sod for each one. Again I want to easure if it will grow in the shade and if it will fill in. I dug out a 3x3 spot in the middle of a ST. Aug-Carpet weed area bordered by a P-77 bermuda side. I really want to see if the Zoy. spread or maintians or is over-run.

Florida Will,

Both St augustine and zoysia need same amount of water to look good although empire won't be killed by lack of water unlike st Augustine. Also there are crappy st augustine cultivar like Raleigh which in my opinion is the worst of all. Too many problems with it. I tried a new cultivar called Sapphire and it seemed to be the easiest to maintain of all cultivars. Seems to be highly resistant to fungal disease and SADV which killed off Palmetto.

Sapphire st augustine {{gwi:90494}}From Sapphire st augustine

That was my last try with st augustine before I try zoysia empire or Palisades. After 3 or 4 years, I'm still very satisfied with Sapphire grass.

wow, that saphire does look good and three years later its less maint. than the previous SA ?!.. great work and a good find. For me Im done with SA. Ill try to take a pic. and upload it but the half of yard that i sodded with zoysia is dark green , lush and super soft. I even laid in the stuff today after mowing. o and yes it grows soooo slow, most of my mowing was on the other half of my yard which is SA. my neighbor who is a specialist at SA even commended me and is going to sod his backyard. well lets stay in touch

I sodded half my back yard with Empire Zoysia about 3 years ago. At this point it's all gone, taken over by the St Augustine. Too bad, I loved the softness and the rich color of the zoysia.

Really. Hmm... At my mother's, when doing nothing, zoysia slowly takes over. I forget which zoysia it is though. Maybe Meyer? It's NEVER watered. Just rainfall.

signed up to join forum but you never sent me a confirmation E-mail

I layed zoysia in the summer of 2012 when winter came I put 1-0-1 fertilizer and Bayer product for billbugs. Since the process my grass have become brown and dead looking. I am not sure if I used the wrong products,if its dead or If I have a fungus. I used 1-0-1 per the Empire website. Has anyone ever had this problem

Our company is the developer and patent holder of Empire Zoysia. We do not recommend a 1-0-1 fertilizer, but rather a fertilizer with a 1-0-1 ratio. An ideal fertilizer would be a 15-0-15 in the spring, or a 20-0-15 if your lawn appears to be lacking in nutrients. One way to get the green without the N is to use iron that can be found in products such as Ironite. Be sure to apply an insecticide such as Bayer Advanced Grub control annually in the spring to prevent billbugs and other insects. Empire is typically pretty resistant to fungus and disease, but occasionally in wet conditions problems can arise. If you see sudden browning in spots, it usually a fungus issue and a systemic fungicide should be applied and will cure the issue. The link I included is to the maintenance page for Empire on our site. If you have any other questions let us know. If you would like more info on fertility, be sure to check out the post on understanding fertilizer on our Turf Talk blog.

Good Luck!

Drew Wagner
Sod Solutions Inc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Empire Zoysia Maintenance Schedule

I've had my empire zoysia since march now... it looks great when there's plenty of water.... yesterday the lawn look awesome but today when i got home from work after 2 days without water it looked like this... i thought this EZ was supposed to be a great drought tolerant grass? It can't go a couple of days in the heat without water? or is there a problem with my soil? I'm clueless.... Lukeav

Hey Lukeav

Couple of issues I see with the photo:

1) You are keeping the grass too tall. It needs to be down at around 1.5" from the soil to the top of the leaf blade
2) That is more than likely a fungus or insect issue. Go to your local landscape supply or garden center and pick up a systemic fungicide and grub control just to make sure that those are not your issues. We really recommend preventative maintenance as an insurance policy on your lawn. With that being said, CAREFULLY follow labeling instructions because too much of any lawn product is a very bad thing.

Other than that, you have to train your lawn to go without water. Be sure to water deeply (about 1" per watering) and infrequently (max 2x per week). When you start seeing leaf blades curl up that means the grass is stressed. Also be sure to check that all of your irrigation heads are getting complete coverage of your lawn. Be sure to download and follow our homeowners guide for empire. You can find it on our website. Let me know if you have any followup questions.

Drew Wagner
Sod Solutions Inc.

I had Empire Zoysia sod put in in September 2012 in 18x36 rectangles, and it went dormant relatively quickly. In coming back in the spring, I'm getting dead spots in rectangular squares, and some good spots.

Is it possible that I have a fungus that could show in right angles, or does this look like bad sod that didn't take? The picture shows one perfectly healthy 18x36 square in the middle of dead area, plus you can see the linear look of good vs bad.

Just trying to get some advice on whether this is salvageable or if I need to get parts of it redone.

I live in Ormond Beach, FL
I have been having continuing issues with torpedo grass in my Floratam St. Augustine grass. I have decided after talking to a sod grower to go with Empire Zoysia grass. My understanding is if torpedo grass continues I can at least spot spray the torpedo as it appears and kill it without harming the Zoysia using Drive XLR 8. Is this correct?
The sod grower said to replace my St. Augustine that contains torpedo grass I should do this near the end of Feb and spray a 4-5% concentration of RoundUp adding nitrogen mixed in to take the herbicide deeper into the root of the torpedo grass to help kill it. After 2 applications of a week to 14 days apart of spraying I would then have my dead grass removed. Then lay the Zoysia grass. Any comments to this plan? Thanks

I planted Empire Zoysia sod on 3/29 to my entire yard (9.5 pallets) some of it looks very good but some has not gotten to a dark green yet. How long should this take. I spoke with the man who sold the sod and he has recommended I apply Milorganite which should green up the yard and if not call him back in two weeks.

Thanks!

I want to change my lawn from Bahia to Empire Zoysia using plugs. If I plant the plugs in the Bahia will it overtake the Bahia, or do I need to kill everything first and than plant the plugs?